While driving home today from a Georgia urban forestry information update session, I heard a radio blurb about how Mexican drug cartel violence has spilled over into Texas, including murder and beheading. Over 60,000 illegal aliens have been picked up in an Arizona sector of the Mexican border in the last four months alone. National security pundits have raved about the need for increased patrols and other border-hardening measures ever since 9/11.

Just hours before this news, I heard a Georgia Forestry Commission forest health specialist, Chip Bates, preach doom and gloom about how other illegals easily penetrate our porous borders. “It’s only going to get worse,” said he. These alien invaders included such pesky perps as laurel wilt disease, phytoplasma disease of Sabal palm, and light brown apple moth. Bugs and rots from far away countries hitch rides inside the millions of cargo containers that enter our ports every year. As ports and foreign imports expand, so do our chances of more invaders ravaging our fair land.

Why care about a few nondescript critters? Consider that, according to USDA statistics, in 2008 , farm receipts for crops was almost $179 billion. We are talking about our national food source here. Many of these non-native insects and diseases have no known natural predators or control agents outside their homelands. A particularly nasty case in point is the so-called light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittan, which showed up in California in 2007. Mr Bates described this little leaf roller as the “Eats anything it lands on” moth. Here’s how the USDA characterized its concern for ag interests in California: “LBAM is of particular concern because it can damage a wide range of crops and other plants including California’s prized cypress as well as redwoods, oaks and many other varieties commonly found in California’s urban and suburban landscaping, public parks and natural environment.  The list of agricultural crops that could be damaged by this pest includes grapes, citrus, stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, apricots) and many others.  The complete “host list” contains well over 1,000 plant species and more than 250 fruits and vegetables.” This pest quickly spread to a dozen counties, thanks in part to California citizens complaining of aerial control spraying. I guess they think fresh food just comes from Safeway …

The lessons learned from forest  losses due to Dutch elm disease, chestnut blight, and gypsy moth included establishing quarantine and testing methods, yet emerald ash borer, woolly adeldgid, and Asian longhorned beetle are tearing up modern-day timberland and suburbs alike. Sudden oak death is moving toward the southeast (after “import” into California) while laurel wilt disease is here. And I haven’t even touched on the exotic weed plants and animals that are taking over our natural areas.

Securing our borders against biological agents is just as much a matter of national security as keeping the terrorists out. While I don’t normally cogitate on conspiracy theories, consider this: Could non-native pests be deliberately introduced so as to reduce our agricultural capacity, damage certain commodity markets, or as good old fashioned corporate sabotage? Is it all just “Ooops, this little creepy-crawler came in on a wood pallet from China”? What if citrus canker was brought to Florida so as to increase foreign market share? A “dirty bomb” slipping in and going off in a major population center would be horrific, but would it be any more so than if some critter was sent here to devour our corn crop over the next ten years? We may end up begging for some food along with that barrel of oil.